The raddest thing in bike polo.

2nd Gear

A few people were interested in my singlespeed tensioner plans so here they are.

Spinning around on the polo bike has been fine for such a long time yet I’m getting really tired of my 8 mile commute (one way) to work along with the ride to a court then home. 40GI takes it’s toll! What I needed was an extra gear with a tensioner for commuting which can easily be removed when playing. A geared SS hub was out of the question. They weigh a ton.

I didn’t want a hanger welded on so after a bit of research found several hangers available. This one is the DMR Chaintug Hanger with the screw removed. It’s designed to fit over a 10mm axle and sits neatly in a horizontal dropout with an inner section which prevents it moving out of place. North Shore Billet make loads of solid ones too which look good. I’m using a 20t and a 14t on a cassette hub and long dropouts wouldn’t have taken all the slack.

In my case, these King axle bolts (female) have a 12mm thread so I had to file the hole in the hanger slightly. I also can’t remove the hanger with the wheel in the frame because of the 12mm thread. You won’t get this with 10mm axles or hubs with smaller threaded axle bolts. This Surly tensioner is so easy to adjust anyway that I can remove that each time and leave hanger in position (lazy mode). I can then remove the whole lot when packing into a travel bag. So no bent hangers.

I’m not sure if this is the easiest way to add that extra gear but i think I’ve pretty much nailed it according to the gearing I was wanting. Those long rides aren’t such a hassle anymore.

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6 thoughts on “2nd Gear”

i used this system aswell, and for polo i crushed at games during the “3..2..1.. POLO” becouse you put to much tension on it and then it snaps or simply bends, i had this piece for 2 weeks on my polo bike and now its catching dust

This system isn’t for polo. That’s the whole point. It’s so when I’m riding home I can switch onto the small sprocket and quickly add the tensioner to take the slack. I wouldn’t play with a derailleur, though I’ve seen some who do.

ah ok, that might work, aldough i think the tensioning is quite precieze to install and reinstall so im asking myself how that would work. im curious how this system will work after a few weeks,

Me myself tought about maybe having a 2 chains with me, one for poloeing, and another one for riding home, you would only have to change the chain or a part of the chain you change up after a few times reinstalling it becouse it could het limb..

You can remove the hanger and don’t actually have to set the tension. It’s as simple as loosening bolts. Removing one bolt to take off hanger, putting chain onto the polo cog and tightening back up. 2 chains are too much hassle and they’ll get pretty messy over time. This works.